US2520803A - Carrying rack for roll-ball game equipment - Google Patents

Description

5 F. M. HEATH 2,520,803

CARRYING RACK FOR ROLL-BALL GAME EQUIPMENT Filed June 14, 1949 Patented Aug. 29, 1950 OFFICE CARRYING RACK FOR ROLL-BALL GAME EQUIPMENT Fletcher M. Heath, Richmond, Va.

Application June 14, 1949, Serial No. 99,019

1 Claim.

This invention relates to portable racks for holding the traps and balls used in playing games of the roll-ball type in which a series of traps or goals are variously positioned on the lawn or in the home and the balls are rolled or driven by a mallet with the object of causing the balls to enter the traps. One manner of playing such a game is described in Patent No. 1,132,577, granted March 23, 1915, to Joseph E. Grenier.

Because roll-ball games of the kind described may ordinarily comprise five or six traps and a separate ball for each of the players, Some bother is caused in carrying this paraphernalia between indoors and outdoors or, if the game is played indoors, between the room in which the game is played and the closet in which the game is stored.

In order to overcome the above disadvantage, it is an important object of my invention to provide a carrying rack upon which the traps may be compactly supported in nested relation with the balls confined within pockets provided by certain of the traps.

Another object of my invention is to provide a carrying rack onto which the roll-ball game equipment may be quickly loaded and unloaded without requiring the use of supplemental fastening means for retaining the equipment on the rack.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, reference being made to the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a carrying rack for roll-ball game equipment;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of one of the traps constituting part of the game equipment; and

Figure 3 is a side view of the rack with the game equipment assembled thereon.

A carrying rack for roll-ball game equipment is shown in Fig. 1. This rack consists generally of a flat base board I of elongated shape and having rounded ends, guard pieces 2 attached to opposite sides of the base board, an upright post 3 secured to each end of the base board and an upwardly arched handle '5 extending between the pair of posts 3. The various parts of the rack may be made of wood and firmly fastened to the base or to each other to form a rigid structure.

One of the several traps T constituting part of the equipment used in playing the roll-ball game is illustrated in Fig. 2. Six traps and six balls will usually be suflicient equipment to supply the demands for most occasions and the traps may be made in sets of three, each trap slightly smaller in width than another so that a set of three may be arranged in nested relation. Each trap is shaped generally in the form of an openended trough having a bottom section 6, two

opposite side wall sections 1 and an end wall section 8 upon which latter is painted, as indicated at 9, the points scored for causing a ball to enter the trap (if the game is played on a point scoring basis).

As best shown in Fig. 2, two sets of traps of three traps each arranged in nested relation are placed bottom-to-bottom on the base board I of the rack between the guard pieces 2. The guard pieces will prevent the traps from shifting sidewise while the end wall section 8 of the outermost of each set of traps will lie closely adjacent to post 3 so as to obviate any appreciable amount of endwise displacement of the traps on the rack. The outermost trap of each set of nested traps will thus present a pocket into which the balls B may be introduced through its open end. The space between posts 3 of the rack and the side walls I of the opposing traps is less than the diameter of a ball so that the balls are barred from escape from the pockets; and, the balls can be introduced into and removed only through the open ends of the pockets where the space between the traps and the handle 5 aifords free passage for the balls.

The rack just described provides a handy means for carrying the traps and balls about and for compactly maintaining the equipment together when it is stored away in a closet. The rack is of simple construction and capable of economical manufacture.

It is to be understood that various changes in construction and design may be made in the carrying rack described above without departing from the spirit of my invention as defined by the following claim.

I claim:

The combination with a carrying rack for rollball game equipment comprising an elongated base member, a pair of upright posts secured to opposite ends of the base member, a handle attached to the upper ends of the posts and guard pieces secured to opposite sides of the base member, of two series of nested traps, each of said traps comprising a bottom, a pair of side walls and an end wall, said two series of traps being arranged bottom-to-bottom with their end walls fitting snugly between the guard pieces and balls within the pockets formed by the outermost traps of the two series of traps and barred from lateral exit therefrom by said upright posts.

FLETCHER M. HEATH.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Grenier Mar. 23, 1915 Number

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